A Bond Forged in War
by coolmccool5
Summary: The Story of the Osean 101st Airborne Division 552nd Parachute Infantry Regiment Charlie Company in the Belkan War from the Liberation of Ustio through the Campaign in South Belka. Heavily inspired by Band of Brothers. Rating likely to change later on.
1. The Mission Begins

**Authors Note: Time for me to make a new story. But that doesn't mean I gave up on The Great War and Blood and Honour. Those two are on hold for now.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ace Combat in any way. That's all I have to say.**

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><p>"<em>We were in the base's mess hall when an announcement on the PA system turned on saying, <em>"All units, get your weapons!"_ We were confused at first and it continued, _"Belka has declared war its neighbors, including Osea. Wesson has been attacked by the Belkan Luftwaffe. Forces of the Belkan Army have also begun to invade our territory."_ We then scrambled to our weapons to prepare for the dreaded Belkan Reichsheer."_ - Major (ret.) Van Spurling, in an interview to Albert Genette in 2019

"_It was like the Belkan Expansionist War of 1943-45 all over again. We were attacked. It wasn't like the Kalugan-Romny War of 1949-52 or the Rascan War of 1964-69. We were attacked."_ - 1st Lieutenant (ret.) Alanna Hermanson, in an interview to Albert Genette in 2019

"_We were all part of an endeavor that was to lead through the campaign in South Belka. The unproven warriors of our generation, spoiling for a fight and happy that our time had come."_ - Captain (ret.) Fiona Spurling, in an interview to Albert Ginette in 2019

**ACE COMBAT**

**A Bond Forged in War**

**Written by Christopher Manson**

**Chapter 01**

**The Mission Begins**

**Robeson Air Force Base, Osean Federation**

**May 11, 1995 - 1230 Hours**

It has been almost two months since the Belkans began their blitzkrieg on its neighbors. During that time, the efforts of the Osean, Yuktobanian, Ustian and Sapanish forces, in conjunction with foreign mercenaries, halted the Belkan advance and began to drive them back. Also during that time, the men and women of the 101st Airborne Division 552nd Infantry Regiment have been training for an airborne invasion. But they never knew where they were going to be dropped.

That was until a week ago, when they were briefed on Operation Varsity, in which they were to be dropped into the Ustian town of Solis Ortus.

On the day they are to be dropped, the soldiers of Charlie Company of the 552nd Infantry Regiment were preparing for the drop, checking their gear. Due to the uncertainty of what they would be up against when fighting Belka, gear for nuclear, biological and chemical warfare are included.

One of the soldiers going through their gear is Sergeant Wilfred "Wilf" Jakeman. And he was not pleased with the amount of gear he has to carry.

"Chocolate bars, charms, candy, powdered sugar, matches, compass, bayonet, entrenching tool, ammunition, NBC gear, bag of extra ammo, my weapon, my .45, canteen, mines, tank grenades, smoke grenades, C4, this bullshit," he listed, throwing down a bundle of rope, "and a pair of nasty skivvies." he finishes throwing down a small bag in his right hand on the ground.

The paratrooper next to him, Seargeant Duncan Haley, who is also going through his gear, asks Wilfred, "So what's your point?"

"This stuff weighs more than I do. And I still got my chute, my reserve chute, my Beretta 92F and my M16A4." He replied, still irritated.

Elsewhere on the air base's apron, another paratrooper, Corporal Cody Rogers receives a letter from one of the other paratroopers. He calls over his superior officer and Charlie Company's leader, Captain Christabelle Romilly, and informs her, "Ma'am, you know Rose Kruse, right? Her parents keep tabs on what's been going on. Her mom received this note from the Osean Air Force this morning regarding Rose's older sister, Jetta, whose an F-16 fighter pilot."

"So what happened?" Christabelle asked.

"Killed in Action two days ago over South Belka." Cody replied.

"My God... Does Rose know of this?" Christabelle asked her junior ranking officer.

"I doubt it, ma'am." Cody replied with doubt on his face.

"Put it in her jacket. I'm sure she'll find it." Christabelle ordered.

In the background, an officer is shouting to inform the paratroopers that if they didn't make a Last Will and Testament, that this is their last chance to do so.

At another spot on the air base's apron, another paratrooper, Sergeant Lawrence "Lawrie" Crawford receives a letter. He begins reading the memo, imitating the Army general back in Oured. "_Soldiers of the Airborne. Today is the day... of days._" He stopped imitating the general, "_Today as you read this, you'll be en route to the great adventure for which you have trained for years and prepared for almost two months._"

A paratrooper next to him, Sergeant Alanna Hermanson replied in a grim tone, "So that's why they gave us steak and eggs..."

Captain Christabelle Romilly, stood up on top of a M551 Sheridan light tank to give an announcement.

"Charlie Company, listen up!"

The paratroopers of Charlie Company gathered around in front of the Sheridan. Christabelle then informed, "The Solis Ortus area is experiencing a thunderstorm! Heavy rain, wind and lightning over the drop zone! No jump today!"

Everyone started to groan, as Christabelle continued, "Operation Varsity has been postponed! We are on a twenty-four hour standdown!"

Several hours later, everyone is in a tent watching a movie. The movie in question being the James Bond film, _License to Kill_. Alanna was watching the movie when she noticed a letter inside her field jacket. She got it out and found out that it was the letter meant for Rose Kruse. "_My dear Rose_?" She then turned to the paratrooper next to her, "Someone put this in the wrong jacket." Her mention received nothing but a shush. She continued reading to herself, "_I found out that Jetta was shot down and killed in action two days ago..._" She was speechless when it said that Rose's sister was "killed in action two days ago over South Belka."

Meanwhile, a paratrooper with black hair and amber-colored eyes, Corporal Van Spurling, steps out of the tent, obviously bored and wanting to take an evening stroll. The chilled evening drizzle making his breath turn to steam as he walks.

"Weather's clearing up." a feminine voice said from behind Van. He turned to see Corporal Fiona Babineaux sitting on a crate. A female paratrooper with short blonde hair and dark blue-colored eyes, Fiona is someone that Van had a crush on since they met three years ago in training. So far, they became close friends. Fiona gets off the crate and follows Van.

"So what do you think, Van?" she asks, only to get a slightly negative reply from Van.

"I don't think it is. Besides, we are past our launch window for today."

"I think it's clearing up." Fiona replied with optimism. She then turned to Van and asked, "Still feeling nervous about tomorrow?"

"Yeah. I'm really worried that something will go wrong and we get killed." Van replied with a hint of deep worry.

"Don't worry. We'll be in good hands." Fiona replied in a promising gesture.

"Thanks, Fiona." Van said, now filled with optimism.

**Robeson Air Force Base, Osean Federation**

**May 12, 1995 - 1230 Hours**

The scene was a grim one. The paratroopers of Charlie Company kept wondering who was going to live and who was going to die in the drop on Solis Ortus. They even wondered if they themselves would be the unfortunate one. Some of them had grim determination on their faces. Others were just grim faces.

As a number of them were putting their gear on, Alanna walks over to Rose, who was helping someone put his gear on.

"Hey Rose." Alanna called out.

Rose walked over to Alanna, who gives her the letter.

"Cody put my jacket by mistake." Alanna told Rose.

"You read it?" Rose asked.

Alanna nodded, "I'm sorry about your sister, Rose."

"It's alright. We're in a war right now. We can't let that hold us back." Rose replied.

"I know." Alanna said.

Upon finishing with their gear, the men and women of Charlie Company's Second Platoon sat in front of a C-130 Hercules, with Corporal Van Spurling standing between them and the plane. The paratroopers being given pills to prevent air sickness.

"Second Platoon, listen up." Van told everyone in front of him. "Good luck. God bless you. I'll see you on the ground."

He then began helping his men and women up, one by one, until Fiona was left. He helped her up and nodded to each other. The men and women of Charlie Company boarded their C-130s.

"Damn. The air sick pill is making me loopy." Wilfred said to Duncan, who nodded in agreement.

The C-130's engines started up, one by one. The paratroops showing nervousness as the Hercules they were on started taxiing to the runway. It soon got clearance to take off. The C-130s started down the runway and got in the air and turned onto their course for Solis Ortus. The C-130s were then joined with other Hercules' carrying paratroops of the 122nd Airbore Division, also en route to Solis Ortus.

Their mission, that will start with the Liberation of Ustio and will take them through South Belka, has begun...

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><p><strong>Well, that's the end of the first chapter for my new story. The next chapter will take place in the mission over Solis Ortus from ACZ.<strong>

**Also, I made a reference to two of my favorite anime characters through two of the main characters. (Try guessing who) Anyway, please leave a constructive review for me, since it has been a while since I posted a story.**


	2. A Hard Landing

"_When we got to the drop zone over Solis Ortus, there was a presence of Belkan SAMs and AA guns and even flak guns. We thought we were going to go down."_ - 1st Lieutenant (ret.) Alanna Hermanson, in an interview to Albert Genette in 2019

"_Being the platoon commander, I was responsible for giving them a pep talk before they jumped. But I had the same feeling of nervousness that everyone else in the platoon had. And I'm certain that the rest of Charlie Company had the same feeling."_ - Major (ret.) Van Spurling, in an interview to Albert Genette in 2019

"_When we finally jumped, we thought that the AA guns were going to shoot holes through us. I never got to thank that one Ustian mercenary pilot for destroying the AA guns that were aimed at us."_ - Captain (ret.) Wilfred "Wilf" Jakeman, in an interview to Albert Genette in 2019

**ACE COMBAT**

**A BOND FORGED IN WAR**

**Written by Christopher Manson**

**Chapter 02**

**A Hard Landing**

**Thirty miles from Solis Ortus, Republic of Ustio**

**May 12, 1995 - 1735 Hours**

Four thousand feet above sea level, on board the C-130 Hercules, bound for their drop zone over Solis Ortus, the soldiers of Charlie Company's second platoon were passing the time resting their eyes, testing their ID equipment, and other things. The sound of a distant explosion, flak burst, woke up Wilfred from a light nap.

In the cockpit, the pilot and co-pilot were getting radio reports from a few C-130s ahead of them. They instinctively turned the "Ready" light to red, indicating that the paratroops are to prepare for their jump. The rear door opening up along with the red light turning on informed the paratroops on board to get ready.

"Alright everyone! Stand up!" Van ordered the others, the sound of the wind roaring loudly behind him.

"Equipment check!" He continued ordering. "Sound off for equipment check!"

One by one, the men and women of the platoon sounded off, until Van himself sounded off.

Outside, the roar of jet engines was heard as two Ustian Air Force fighters flew by; a gray F-20A Tigershark and an F-15C Eagle with a red right wing.

"Get your asses in gear people! You got to jump, or you are of no value to this unit! Anyone showing weakness _will_ be left behind! Don't show weakness in the face of the Belkans! Is that clear?!" Van shouted to the others, in which he received a loud, motivated "Sir, yes sir!"

"Use that anger to get fired up! Let's show those Belkans what we are made of. Show them the cost of screwing with Osea!" Van continued.

The C-130 reached their designated drop zone, the light turned green.

"Let's go! Don't stop to think! Just keep going!" Van ordered. "We're the best! Go! Go! Go!"

Eventually, he was left and he too jumped out and deployed his parachute. He noticed an AA gun coming of a shed nearby and prayed that it wouldn't fire on him and his units.

Meanwhile, Wilfred too saw the AA gun. It was starting to aim at them.

"We're gonna be shot full of holes before we hit the ground!" he shouted.

Before his worst fears were realized, the AA gun was destroyed by an air-to-surface missile fired by the UAF Tigershark. Elsewhere in the group, Alanna, Duncan and Cody noticed an Sh 413 Elaine becoming involved in a dogfight with the F-15C Eagle with the red wing. The Eagle shot a missile at the Sh 413 and it went down in flames.

Cody then noticed a Bm 415 Sangive interceptor in the distance. It was coming in for an attack. The UAF F-20A circling the parachutes protectively like a shepherd's dog seemed to notice the Bm 415 as well, as it turned in it's direction. The two fighters entered a dogfight, both of them trying to get an advantage over the other.

However, the more maneuverable F-20A quickly got in position and fired a missile. The Sangive went down in flames.

The paratroops eventually hit the ground, hard. Wilfred landed and fell through the roof of a house, Cody's parachute got snagged on a nearby tree, while everyone else was scattered.

**Near the western end of Solis Ortus, Republic of Ustio**

**May 12, 1995 - 1747 Hours**

Van and Fiona, upon landing next to one of the houses, checked their equipment, and looked on with dismay. Their equipment were lost in the jump. The only equipment they could salvage were their ID equipment, some of their spare ammo, their Baretta 92Fs and their M16A4s. Everything else was lost.

"We need to find the others." Van told Fiona, who nodded in agreement.

They went toward the nearby house, and knocked. A civilian woman who was in her late forties opened the door.

Van, in his best attempt at speaking Ustian, tried to inform her.

"_We're members of the Osean Army. We need to use your house as a rallying point._"

"_Yes. Please, go ahead. Make yourself at home._" the woman replied.

Van and Fiona entered the house and went to a table to put a map of the area down. Turning on the flash light he had on him, and looking outside at the surroundings, he deduced that they were in the second westernmost house in the area.

Fiona got out and turned on their portable radio, as Van had lost his in the jump; she then gave it to him

"This is Charlie 2-1, can anyone hear me?"

He received, from Cody "This is Charlie 2-4. Me and Charlie 2-3 landed. Don't know about the others, though."

This was soon followed by a message from Lawrence, "This is Charlie 2-6, you can't get rid of us that easily. Me and Charlie 2-5 landed in a field somewhere."

"This is Charlie 2-7, I've managed to land as well. Got a few cuts and bruises from going through a tree, though."

"This is Charlie 2-9. Me, 2-8 and 2-10 seemed to have landed in a barn. I've been hearing Belkan patrols nearby. I'm afraid we're gonna get ambushed if we leave too soon." Corporal Jeremiah Park informed

"This is Charlie 2-11, came across a couple of Belkan soldiers. Managed to 'drop them'. Charlie 2-12 is with me as well." Private Lilliana Newell informed

With that, Van instructed, "Charlie 2-9. You, 2-8 and 2-10 stay put for now and hold off any Belkan soldiers that enter the barn your in. Everyone else, rally at my location. It is the second westernmost house on your maps of the area. Don't be afraid to get rid of any Belkans in your way, but use your ammo wisely. I suspect that some of us lost our gear in the jump. Use the code procedure if you come across each other; I don't want to find out that we lost a few good men and women due to fratricide."

The instruction was met by a "Yes sir." from everyone else with a radio.

"Now, time for the waiting game..." Van said to Fiona.

A little girl came out into the living room, a little frightened. Fiona noticed and gave a warm, loving smile to her. A smile that any loving mother would give to her frightened child. She got out a chocolate bar and offered it to her. The little girl took it and soon saw Fiona and Van as friends.

Meanwhile, in a barn, Jeremiah, a native of the Eglin Straits area, was keeping a look out along with Private Beckah Trengove and Sergeant Eglantine Broadbent, in a hiding spot. Soon a small group of soldiers came in, speaking in Belkan. They noticed the hole in the roof. They raised their G36 rifles as if they were wary of their surroundings.

Suddenly, Jeremiah, Beckah and Eglantine hosed them down with three round bursts from their M16A4s. The Belkan patrol never stood a chance. The other nearby patrols heard the noise and came rushing to the barn, where they were cut down in heaps.

However, Beckah was hit in the left leg by one of the Belkans, she groaned and winced in pain. Jeremiah and Eglantine decided that they needed to get to the rallying point now or Beckah would die of blood loss.

In the house that Van and Fiona were using as a rallying point for the others, the first group arrived. The group in question was Cody, Wilfred, Lawrence and Rose.

"Flash." Van said, doing the code procedure.

"Thunder." Cody replied.

"That just leaves Sergeant Hermanson, Corporal Park, Private Trengove, Sergeant Broadbent, Private Newell and Private Gabriel." Van said.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, the others hid in case it was a Belkan patrol. Van peeked out the window to find Jeremiah and Eglantine carrying a wounded Beckah, along with Lilliana, Duncan and Private Albert Gabriel at the door.

Van opened the door to a crack, and did the procedure. "Flash."

"Thunder." Jeremiah replied. Van allowed them in. Jeremiah and Eglantine set Beckah down on a couch for Lilliana, the closest one to a medic to patch up Beckah's wounded leg. Thankfully, the bullet didn't hit any vital parts of her leg.

After Lilliana patched Beckah up the others gathered around the table that Van put the map on.

"The Belkans have a light armored battalion coming from the east, according to intel. They said that the Belkans will be at the eastern end of the town within a six hours." Van informed.

"I just hope that the Sheridans and M8s are air dropped into the area before then. Because we don't have the equipment to take on an entire light tank regiment." Jerimiah replied, concerned.

"High Command said that the Seridans and M8s will be here within an hour. Let's head out now, and cover as much ground as we can before that Belkan light armor battalion arrives." Van replied.

"Sir." the others replied.

Van then turned to the owners of the house, "_Thank you, ma'am._"

"_No. You people have brought us hope of driving the Belkans out. For that, I thank you._" the mother replied.

The men and women of Charlie Company's Second Platoon left the house and headed to the east end of the town, hoping to meet up with First and Third Platoons as well...

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><p><strong>Remember to leave a constructive review<strong>


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